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Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik announced retirement after Sanjay Singh won the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) polls. The delayed polls of the wrestling governing body were conducted on December 21, and results were announced the same day. Sanjay is a close aide and business partner of former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Bhushan had to step aside after top wrestlers of the nation including Malik, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and others accused him of sexual harassment of seven female grapplers, including a minor.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist announced her retirement from the sport after Sanjay got a comfortable win in the polls. The wrestlers conducted a press conference, where Malik symbolically protested by keeping her wrestling boots on the table. She said that she won’t compete under the presidency of Brij Bhushan’s loyalist.
The 31-year-old said, "We slept for 40 days on the roads and many people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh's business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling..." She added, "We have made demands for a woman president. If the president would be a woman, harassment would not happen. But, there was no participation of women earlier and today you can see the list, not even a single woman was given a position. We had fought with complete strength but this fight will continue. The wrestlers of the new generation have to fight.”
Future of wrestling is in dark: Vinesh Phogat after WFI polls result
Vinesh Phogat, who became the first Indian female wrestler to win a gold at both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, said that the future of Indian wrestling is in the dark. Phogat told the media, "There are minimal expectations but we hope that we get justice. It's saddening that the future of wrestling is in the dark. To whom shall we convey our grief?... We are still fighting"
Notably, Sanjay secured 40 votes against seven that his rival Anita Sheoran got. Earlier this year, top wrestlers from the country accused Brij Bhushan and protested against him at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
